Suspended doctor thrown off eBay site

January 31, 2007

Updated: Monday, June 7, 2010 (10:27)

A CONSULTANT gynaecologist, who was suspended from Hinchingbrooke Hospital, has now been suspended from trading on eBay. Eftis Paraskevaides, 50, a Greek Cypriot who lives in Godmanchester, was suspended from the hospital after fears were expressed about

A CONSULTANT gynaecologist, who was suspended from Hinchingbrooke Hospital, has now been suspended from trading on eBay.

Eftis Paraskevaides, 50, a Greek Cypriot who lives in Godmanchester, was suspended from the hospital after fears were expressed about his work.

He has since become a top eBay trader - earning some £1.4million a year from the site - but now allegations have linked him "shill bidding", bidding to raise the price of goods on sale artificially.

The practice was highlighted in a Sunday newspaper article.

Mr Paraskevaides issued a press statement yesterday (Tuesday) saying: "I do not shill bid. My statements, which have been quoted by The Sunday Times, need to be seen in the context of a dealer and apparent collector.

"I am a salesman and was trying to convince a collector that his items were safe in my hands. I would not have resorted to shill bidding and this was made quite clear at the time, although never reported. I await the result of eBay's investigation, which I expect will find that I have not been guilty of any wrongdoing."

Until his site was suspended Mr Paraskevaides sold antiquities.

The Sunday Times claimed Mr Paraskevaides described to a undercover reporter how shill bidding worked and said many sellers used the tactic.

A spokesman for eBay said: "Shill bidding is strictly prohibited on eBay. If we become aware of suspicious activity on either a listing or an account, then it is thoroughly investigated. If we establish that shill bidding has taken place, sellers risk being suspended indefinitely from eBay."

Mr Paraskevaides resigned from Hinchingbrooke Hospital in 2002, having been suspended two years earlier. In 2003, the General Medical Council placed restrictions on the kind of work he was allowed to do. The GMC lifted the restrictions in 2006.